Grasping Liquid
by SamCyberCat
Summary: Some dramatic leader leaves his group questioning why he'd abandon them. And amongst them, is a very miserable Badger. A story of the Black Ravens growing up and struggling to accept the changes that come with doing so. Badger/Crow.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** Written for Spectrumv on tumblr, who gave me the prompts Crow/Badger and "Please, I just... really need space right now". Set a few years after the events of Spectre's Call, with spoilers for that game.

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><p>It came as a surprise to everyone when Crow told them that he was leaving.<p>

He'd gathered the other Black Ravens in the auction room one morning. They could tell this wasn't going to be the usual talk about inventory levels or costumes needing to be fixed. Something heavy lay in the atmosphere as they sat there, exchanging nervous glances between themselves.

When the news broke, there was a very vocal outcry.

"I ain't leavin' forever!" Crow called out, motioning with his hands for them to settle, "Just a few weeks. Maybe a month or two at most. It's not as if we're disbandin', it's just a little break."

"And how come we only have a break when you decide you wanna leave?" demanded Roddy.

"Ya welcome to keep going without me," Crow coldly informed.

"We could do and all! We've got Wren's brains and Badger's much better at running around in the costume than you are!" Roddy snapped, not backing down.

Marilyn lay a hand on his arm to settle him; "What Roddy means to say is that we aren't Black Ravens without all of us. We wouldn't want to continue without you."

"Then I'm sorry to 'ave put ya in that position, but I'm still leavin'," concluded Crow, "I'm goin' tomorrow, so there's still a bit o' time for any o' ya to come sort stuff out with me if ya do wanna keep this place runnin' while I'm gone."

With that he turned and headed through to the back room. Crow always was one for dramatics. And his exit did indeed leave the others talking frantically amongst themselves. What was Crow thinking? Why was he leaving? Where was he going? And why didn't he know when he'd be back?

The only person who didn't say single a word the entire time they were there was Badger. Certainly these thoughts were running through his head, but he didn't want to talk about them with anyone other than Crow. So he sat in one of the seats, staring at the door Crow had gone through until everyone else had eventually left. The last few were ushered out by Marilyn, who had a good instinct for knowing when people needed to talk.

Badger continued to sit there in silence until the door to the stock room cracked open again. It was just like Crow to storm off and act as if he was busy, when in truth he was only waiting until everyone had left so that he could slink away.

"Hey," Badger muttered, before he had a chance to retreat back into the other room again.

"Oh, hey Badge'. Didn't think anyone was still out 'ere," Crow replied, stepping out onto the stage now that he knew he'd been caught.

"Got nowhere else t' be now, 'ave I?" he accused.

"Don't be like that," Crow sighed, walking over and taking a seat on the edge of the stage, opposite where Badger was sat, "I'm not doin' this to 'urt any o' ya. It's just somethin' I need to do."

"Why do ya need to do it then?" Badger checked, glaring out from under his mess of hair, "An' why couldn't ya 'ave talked t' any of us about it first."

Why couldn't you have talked to me? That was the question he really wanted to ask.

"Please, I just... really need space right now. I've only ever been in Mist'allery my whole life an' I don't 'ave the space to grow 'ere any more. We've all mastered these streets, Badge'. But most o' ya 'ave been to other places. I 'aven't. Never once left Mist'allery," Crow explained, "An' I've been wantin' to go somewhere for a long time, but I didn't wanna cause any bother for the rest o' ya. So I kept puttin' it off, until I realised that I'd never do it if I didn't do it soon."

"An' ya couldn't tell of us this because...?" pressed Badger.

"I didn't want ya to stop me," Crow confessed.

"Ya great twit," sighed Badger, pulling himself up off the chair and walking over, "We wouldn't 'ave stopped ya, but we might 'ave been able to help if ya'd told us. Would've avoided that awful fuss back there. But then, ya like makin' fusses, don't ya?"

Crow didn't meet his eye, but he was smirking down at the ground in response to that.

"It's done now," he mumbled, "Just got to get ready for tomorrow, since there's no goin' back."

"Suppose so..." Badger reluctantly agreed.

He watched with some sadness as Crow, who obviously felt this discussion was concluded, got up and headed away from him, off towards the door. This was really it. He was really leaving and none of them knew when he'd be back. Maybe the others wouldn't stick around once Crow was gone either. They might all find other places they wanted to go to as well. That grim thought set in Badger's head and terrified him.

More than anything, he wanted to go with Crow. Once their leader had set his mind on something it was impossible to change and, if Badger couldn't do that, he wanted to just go with him wherever he was going.

But Badger was not bold or good at expressing himself.

"I'll see ya when I get back?" Crow checked, as he reached the door.

It was a question, not an assumption. That at least proved that Crow had gotten better than what he used to be. Even if it was only slightly better.

"Yeah, I'll... I'll see ya..." replied Badger, trying hard to keep his voice level.

And, with that, Crow was gone. Leaving Badger to sit back in the seat again. Alone in a big room, curling his knees up into his chest and cursing his own timidity. He started to cry a little, rocking himself on the seat for comfort. But that was Badger all over, wasn't it? Weak, stupid, gangly, push-over Badger. All these horrible words that he used to describe himself. And they had to be true, because he couldn't even tell Crow that he wanted to be near him. The thought made him worry too much that Crow might think he's some kind of creeper who needed to cling to him at all times.

And maybe Badger was some kind of creeper...

It was maybe half an hour before the tears started to run dry, leaving him with just silent, heaving sobs. The time allowed him to think, mostly bad things about himself, but also a few bad things about Crow. Because Crow could be so horrible that it was hard not to think bad things about him. As much as Badger wanted to hug the stupid little leader, he also wanted to punch him in the face as well.

Perhaps when Crow comes back Badger could punch him.

That notion makes him giggle strangely into his sobbing. His grand highness making a triumphant return, expecting all of his subjects to be cooing over how much they've missed him, and instead what he gets is Badger giving him a good slap across the face. He'd deserve it.

Maybe by that time Badger would have even grown into a more confident Badger who wasn't afraid to tell Crow not to do stupid stuff. And could also tell Crow that he... well, liked him...

Every time Badger tried to imagine confessing something like that to Crow, his mouth filled up with bile. But not the new, improved Badger. No, the new Badger would just swallow it back and keep his head held high. He wouldn't even care if Crow thought he was a proper weirdo and didn't want anything to... to do with him after that...

...Okay, so probably even the new Badger would get upset by that.

Pulling himself up off the chair, Badger wiped his face clean of the old Badger's lingering tears. Wow, he was actually referring to himself as 'the old Badger' now. Maybe that meant he was serious about changing. Or maybe not. Who knew?

All he did know was that, one way or the other, he'd be waiting for Crow when he got back. Because that's just what loyal Badgers did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** I didn't intend to write another chapter to this, but I was preparing to write a second Crow/Badger fic for the prompt "It's all your fault!" anyway and then thought that it'd be interesting to write it as a sequel to the first one. So now this has become an on-going Black Raven fic that I'll probably never complete! Hooray!

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><p>It was two months until Crow came swanning back to Misthallery. Two months exactly, because Badger had been counting each and every day since he left. Maybe Badger didn't have a lot of skills, but counting is something that he knows he's good at.<p>

And, in his arrogance, Crow obviously expected that everything would be the same. That while he was off doing his soul-searching to discover... whatever it was that he needed to discover, that everyone in Misthallery would sit around and wait for him to get back.

That hadn't been the case.

What also hadn't been the case, however, was bold, confident, new Badger being there for the return. The lanky lad reckoned that he had grown a little in Crow's absence, but he still couldn't slap Crow in the face when he waltzed back into the market. As much as he wanted to. Really, really wanted to.

Crow had a slight air of wonder about him as he approached, the sort that someone might have when coming back to a place where they used to live after being away for a long time. He had a bag on his back and his head was so up in the sky that he barely noticed how empty the streets were. Not that they were ever busy at this time in the morning, but there was a certain absence that he should have picked up on.

He reached where Badger was hovering and smiled warmly. It was not returned. As much as Badger's instincts just wanted to smile at Crow, he couldn't. Their leader didn't deserve smiles right now.

"Hey, Badge'! How's everythin' been?" Crow started, clearly still stuck in the euphoric glow of his trip.

"Quiet," Badger pointedly replied.

"I can see that," observed Crow, looking around, "So where is everyone?"

"Most of 'em are still in bed. 'Cept for Marilyn, who needs to run 'er stall, n' Scraps, since 'e's always up at the crack of dawn t' look fer stuff in the junk," informed Badger, wondering how long it'd be until the penny dropped.

Crow nodded; "An' I wouldn't expect Louis to be out 'is pit at this hour. It's a wonder we get 'im up to do any work at all. But what about Wren an' Socket? They're usually about by now."

"They're not 'ere," seethed Badger.

"I can see that, but where are they?"

"They're. Not. 'Ere."

Crow's eyes grew wide as realisation dawned on him.

"As in... not in Mist'allery?" he checked, not wanting to know the answer.

Badger felt himself slump under the weight of having to hold it in for so long; "No. They're gone. Their mam found a job somewhere else, while ya were flirtin' with... with whereveh it was ya went, n' they 'ad t' leave. The dog n' all."

"But... they can't! They can't just 'ave disappeared like that! Wh-what about... the Black Ravens...?" Crow gaped, staring up at him through pleading eyes.

"We asked ya that same question when ya left an' ya said it were just somethin' ya 'ad t' do," reminded Badger, "They 'ad to do this too."

"But... I didn't even get to say goodbye..." mumbled Crow.

His tone was pathetic enough to finally make Badger snap; "Say goodbye? Ya coulda stopped 'em! If ya 'ad bin 'ere ya coulda worked ya stupid Crow magic n' somehow made it so they didn't 'ave t' go! It's all your fault they're gone!"

"Badge', I ain't some kinda mystical magician," Crow reasoned, "If their mum needed t-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Ya bloodeh well could fix it! Just like ya fix everythin'! But ya didn't, 'cause ya weren't 'ere n' ya didn't care!" screamed Badger. It was loud enough to threaten waking up those who lived in the houses nearby, but that was the last thing on Badger's mind right now.

After this outburst, Crow went silent. He focused himself, giving Badger time to breathe. Clearly the taller boy was working himself up to counter whatever Crow might say next, but that's not what Crow wanted to do. He didn't want to argue with any of his friends. What he wanted to do was... make things right again.

"So we'll find them," he concluded, after the pause.

"We can't just- ...what? Are ya fer real?" checked Badger. He'd been prepared for a fight, but Crow's reply had left him utterly confused.

"It can't be that 'ard," assured Crow, feeling his confidence grow now that it had direction, "They musta told some people where they were goin', right? Maybe they even told you."

"I... I could find out. But look, Crow, we can't just 'ead after them. They're bloodeh miles away! What do we even do when we get there? Just knock on the door n' say 'Oi, can we 'ave our friends back'? Be smart about this, birdie," Badger argued.

"Let me worry about that," Crow dismissed, "All I want ya to do is find everyone, find out what they know about where Wren an' Socket are, an' ask 'em if they wanna come with me."

"Right," Badger replied, loyally snapping to attention. Even after two months, he couldn't bring himself to not listen to Crow's orders. He hates himself for it, because all the time Crow was gone he'd been trying to believe that he could break free from that grasp. But when it came down to it, he was still the same old Badger who jumped the longest jump he could manage just because Crow wanted him to.

"Ya, well, ya don't 'afta come if ya don't want to," Crow added, "I know ya pretty angry with me."

"I'm comin'," growled Badger.

"Ya sure?"

"Yes. Now if ya would excuse me, I've got people to find," he concluded, pushing past Crow. Him, Badger, actually pushed past Crow.

There was a chuckle from the small leader. It was enough to make Badger reconsider not hitting him. Here Badger is, being as tough as he can and holding onto the anger that Crow deserves to be faced with, and he was finding it funny.

"Won't keep ya," Crow hummed.

"Good. Ya... ya betteh not. But... um, they're probableh realleh far away n' ya... 'ow t' say it? Ya always bin a bit of a 'ome bird," reminded Badger.

The strange chuckle increased in volume. Badger hated it when Crow did that. The slightest thing could set him off into his twisted laughter and there was no stopping him once it started. The noise wasn't infectious, Badger himself had no desire to laugh, but it was toxic. Just hearing it made Badger's insides want to knot up in a way that he couldn't explain.

"I used to be, but not any more. It would surprise ya 'ow much I've changed," informed Crow. Badger might not be able to see his face, but he could picture the grin.

Great. Just fantastic. Badger spends two months trying to become a new person and fails completely. While Crow, on the other hand, skips away on some unexplained little journey (which had admittedly also taken two months, but that's not the point) and come back a stronger person who's ready to face the world. Being secluded to his limited life in Misthallery had always been Crow's one weakness that Badger was aware of. The one thing that the others had over him was that many of them had travelled around before, but Crow had never left his home town. But not now, apparently. Maybe Badger didn't yet know where Crow had been and what he'd been doing, but it was clear that he's seen a lot and grown as a person because of it.

It seems that every conversation they had was going to end with Badger hating Crow a little more, wasn't it? As much as that was balanced out by him also... g-growing fonder of him at the same time...

No. Now's not the time to think about that.

"Ya still look like the same little birdie t' me," Badger huffed.

Then he dashed off, determined to have the last word. Not that he even managed that, as Crow's laughter echoed behind him. Stupid Crow and his being so perfect at everything.

Stupid Crow who's going to find Wren and Socket, so they can get the Black Ravens back to how they should be. Yeah, that was it. Crow would fix it all. Because there's not a single problem that their leader couldn't solve. Badger knows this to be true...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** I sadly decided not to attempt writing Louis's scouse accent, because I'd only butcher that worse than I already do with Crow and Badger's accents. So just imagine he's speaking in glorious scouse. Also, I'm a bit late in the fic with mentioning this, but for US readers, in your versions of the game Gus is called Tweed and Roddy is called Nabby. It seemed like a good idea to bring that up now, since they have more speaking parts in this chapter.

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><p>It was around midday by the time Badger had managed to gather everyone in the market to wait for Crow. They all stood around Marilyn's stall, because she argued that her family couldn't afford for her to shut up shop at the drop of a hat, so they would have to have their meeting where she could carry on with her work. And Badger quite agreed with her on that. Not that the stall was likely to get too much business with a bunch of moody teenagers skulking around it, but you never know.<p>

As well as Marilyn, there was also Scraps, Gus, Roddy and Louis, who was looking rather groggy for having been called out of bed on a day where they hadn't planned to do work. So that was all the rest of the Black Ravens, sans Wren & Socket, for obvious reasons, and Crow, who hadn't yet arrived, much to Badger's annoyance.

He supposed that Tony, their honorary member, also wasn't there and Badger felt a slight pang of guilt for leaving him out. But, as much as they all liked Tony, the idea of being a Black Raven was more of a game to him and his coming down to join in with them had sort of fizzled out as he'd gotten older. Perhaps they did take this all too seriously, but there was a silent agreement amongst the group that this was strictly Black Raven business and it was probably best not to get Tony involved.

So the motley crew waited for their leader to join them, mumbling amongst themselves. Badger supposed they'd all have a lot to say to Crow, so chances were that he'd keep as quiet as he usually did during group discussions. As much as he wanted to be confident Badger, who put his opinion forward, the idea of speaking in front of everyone when they were all serious like this just made him too nervous. At least he got to speak with Crow beforehand, so he could make it clear that he wasn't happy.

Or at least, he'd assumed that he'd made it clear. When Crow finally did join them, he sauntered over as calmly as anything, as if their talk earlier hadn't phased him at all. Water off a duck's back, Badger supposed, glumly.

And sure enough, the others erupted into a sudden bout of questions, only stopping when Crow motioned for silence. How he has that kind of presence over them all Badger will never know, but he certainly is good at getting people to shut up and listen to him.

"I know all o' ya are confused an' wanna know what's goin' on, but we need to get this sorted first," Crow began, "'Cause I've been told that Wren an' Socket 'ave disappeared an' I ain't 'appy about that."

"Disappeared is kind of an exaggeration. They just moved away," Marilyn pointed out, resting on the counter of her stall.

"Yeah, but they're still Black Ravens an' we can't carry on without 'em," Crow insisted.

"Where was that logic when you left?" prompted Roddy. He was glaring so harshly that Badger thought he might be the only person here who was angrier with Crow than he was. It worried him that a fight might break out. Crow and Roddy were known as best friends, but they didn't half argue most of the time...

"I was always comin' back though," retorted Crow.

Marilyn spoke up, not wanting this to get out of hand; "All right, we all know that Wren and Socket are gone. And we do feel bad about it, Crow, believe me. But what can we do about it now?"

Crow's eyes lit up. They had that dangerous glint about them that Badger had come to recognise as meaning he was about to suggest something that would be both absurd and possibly genius. Although in this case Badger already knew was that suggestion was, this would be news to the rest of them.

"We're goin' after 'em," he answered.

"We can't do that!" Scraps gasped.

"Why not? We know where we're goin', right?" Crow prompted.

"They moved to... to a small village in Northumberland," Louis yawned, "We could probably find where they live easily enough, but it's not like we can just waltz on up there, is it?"

"That's exactly what I intend to do. An' I brought ya 'ere to ask who's comin' with me," Crow replied, smiling around at them all.

"I will!"

The group turned in surprise to look at Gus, the portly lad who right now looked to be a picture of determination. Even Badger was a little shocked to hear him put his name forward so quickly, since while he was eager, Gus usually wasn't first in line for anything.

"Are... are ya sure?" Crow checked. It seemed that he was a little hesitant to drag Gus out on such a trip.

"Of course I am! Finding our friends is the right thing to do, right?" insisted Gus. Though it wasn't Crow he was looking at now, but Marilyn.

Ah, that was it. Ever since they were kids, Gus has always had this massive crush on Marilyn. He must be doing this in some misguided attempt to impress her. Badger sympathised a lot. If he wasn't keeping quiet about his... well, his own doomed attraction to a certain someone who probably wasn't interested, then him and Gus would probably have a lot to talk about in that regard.

Marilyn smiled warmly and said, "That's very noble of you, Gus. I'm sure that the two of them will be glad to see you again."

"A-aren't you coming...?" checked Gus, his nerves slipping now that doubt had settled in.

"Of course not. As much as I'd love to, there's no way that I could leave my family's stall for so long. My family all needs to work together to get by, I'm afraid," Marilyn answered, "But Louis's going, aren't you, Louis?"

"I am?" asked Louis, snapping to attention now that his name had been brought up.

"Of course you are. You're going to keep an eye on Gus, aren't you?" reminded Marilyn. Her tone on the surface seemed as cheerful as usual, but underneath it was the slight hint of threat that only those who knew her very well would pick up on. And Louis knew her almost better than anyone.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Louis haplessly concluded.

"Right, so that's three o' ya, including Badge', who told me 'e'd come earlier," Crow counted, "Anyone else?"

All eyes turned to Scraps and Roddy, though Scraps was the one to speak up first. He shrugged, shaking his head with an air of indifference.

"Who'd keep our stock levels up while you're away if I left?" he pointed out, "It's been hard enough managing all the inventory on my own while you've been away. I'm a finding stuff guy, not a writing stuff down guy. And if I did come and some other kids stole all the good stuff from the junk then I'd never live it down. That treasure that could make us rich might crop up at any time."

"I can see I won't be able to talk ya outta it," sighed Crow, knowing that Scraps always stood by his word. So he directed his gaze instead to Roddy, "How about you, Rod?"

"You're a real piece of work," Roddy growled, suddenly storming off away from the group and down the street.

"Roddy, wait..." Crow called, heading off after him.

"Guess that means the meeting's over," hummed Louis, as they watched the two of them disappear down the street, "I better go pack my bags then."

That seemed to act as a signal for the gathering to disperse, with Scraps not needing to be told twice to head back towards his usual post. Scraps is a good friend to all of them, but he does like to keep himself busy as much s possible, to the point that sometimes be came across as dismissive. Badger reckoned it might be his way of dealing with problems and there were certainly a fair few of those to mull over right now.

Marilyn in turn seemed to have been distracted by old Thomas, who'd turned up to buy some vegetables. Out of the corner of his eye, Badger saw her motion to Gus and Louis to stay put. No doubt she wanted to have words with her brood as soon as she got a moment.

Which left Badger. Not that being left out was something he wasn't used to...

No, don't think about that. Those were awful, old Badger thoughts. New Badger knew that sometimes his friends needed to deal with things without him and other times they did need him there. But if they ever needed to be without him, that didn't instantly mean they hated him or had forgotten about him. Yeah, hold onto that thought, he mused.

And new Badger was brave enough to go after Crow and Roddy, right? Maybe they really would break out into a fight and it would be down to Badger to stop them from beating each other silly.

That was all the motivation he needed to quietly head off after them, following the tracks that he assumed they'd headed down. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he could hear their voices outside of one of the boarded-up houses. That was when Badger's nerves broke down. They sounded angry and he didn't think he could deal with that without becoming a stuttering mess. Maybe he could just stay here and listen out, so that if it sounded like things were getting worse then he could jump in to help at the last minute...

"And you never even think! You just put me on the spot like that!" snapped Roddy, making Badger cringe.

"Don't know what ya talkin' about," Crow snappishly dismissed, "I told everyone equal an' everyone spoke up when they were ready. It's not my fault ya went last. Usually ya first to open ya mouth."

"If you don't beat me to it," grumbled Roddy, "But that's not what I meant. Ugh, you're such a pigeon-headed brat that you'd never get it."

"Then why don't ya tell me what I don't get?" Crow offered.

"What a pain... All right, Mr. Leader, try this on – you stride back in here with your big ideas, expecting everyone to go with you just because you say so. But you never stop to think that the rest of us might have lives. Sure, you all understand when Marilyn says she needs to run the stall or Scraps says he needs to pick up your slack, but what about me, eh? Stubborn, grumpy Roddy. I bet if Roddy says he doesn't want to go, it's just because he doesn't care and not because his mum would never manage without him. You'd just tell me to stop being so selfish," Roddy explained.

"Rod..." Crow's voice was a whisper now, Badger had to really press in as close as he could to hear, "I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

"Of course you didn't think! You never do think about me. It's always me having to run around after you, like the pain you are," muttered Roddy.

"That ain't true. If ya 'ad talked to me then I would've got it. I get it right now, even," Crow reasoned.

"What I'm trying to say is that you never gave me the chance to talk to you about it. You just gathered us all together as if I'm just another one of your numbers," Roddy countered.

There was a brief silence, which was followed by Crow confessing something that Badger never thought he'd hear from him; "I was wrong, ya right. It would've been better to talk to ya first. I got so caught up with the idea of 'elpin' Wren an' Socket that I wasn't thinkin' proper. 'Cause the idea o' us all breakin' apart scares me so much, Rod..."

"You can't keep us here forever," Roddy stated, "We all want to be Black Ravens as long as we can, but sometimes life just doesn't let things go like you plan. It's difficult like that."

"But Wren an' Socket were never given the chance to choose," insisted Crow.

"Fine, go after them. Find out what they want and do whatever it is you can about that. Just... don't get too worked up if things don't go your way," Roddy replied. He sounded much softer than Badger had ever heard him be towards anyone before. Maybe this was why they were best friends.

"I'll try not to," Crow promised, "An' Rod...?"

"Yeah?"

"Look after Mist'allery while I'm gone, all right?"

"Ugh. You really are such a pain and a bother and everything else."

"Thanks, Rod."

With that, it sounded like footsteps were disappearing away from where Badger was stood. He let out a deep breath and walked out from where he was hiding – right into Roddy.

"Ouf! Watch where you're goin- ...Oh, Badge'," sighed Roddy, "Did you have fun eavesdropping on us?"

"I-I-I didn't do it on purpose!" Badger quickly assured. Glancing over Roddy's shoulder, he could see Crow disappearing down the other end of the street, clearly unaware that anyone had been listening.

"Yeah, well, whatever. I don't care that much. But if you were listening I guess you know what an impulsive idiot our leader is, eh?" sighed Roddy, seeming a bit put out that he'd been caught getting emotional, even if he was claiming not to be.

"Kinda knew that already..." mumbled Badger, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah, well that makes three of us – you, me and Marilyn," clarified Roddy, "And two of us aren't going on this goose chase. So it's down to you to stop him from getting too reckless."

"If Crow wants t' do summit then I doun't think I could stop 'im," Badger quietly objected, "'E won't listen to me."

"Then make him listen. He can be a pain, but he cares about what we think. Deep down, under all the layers of arrogance," Roddy insisted, "If you don't, then if he does something stupid and the others get hurt, if he gets hurt, it'll be on your head."

"...O-o-okay... I'll d-do my best..."

Badger was blinking back tears now. Seeming to get that this was the case, Roddy shuffled past him, ready to make his way down the street.

"You'll do fine, Badge'. You're the next closest person to him after me and I can tell you're finally starting to see past his act," Roddy assured him, "Now go get packed – his highness might decide he wants to leave at any time."

A sniff and a silent nod. Badger couldn't bring himself to speak right now, but fortunately Roddy didn't wait for him to, disappearing back to wherever he needed to be. Maybe he didn't need to be anywhere and he just wanted to avoid everyone. That's certainly something Badger couldn't blame him for.

But Badger just... couldn't do it. He couldn't be what Roddy was to Crow. He couldn't even be the confident new Badger, so how could he ever look after Crow or talk to him like Roddy did? Sure, Badger might have his angry outbursts, but he couldn't make Crow listen the way Roddy seemed to. And, for all he might find Crow annoying, there is still a big part of him taken in by the act, enchanted by Crow, even. What if he didn't recognise Crow was making a mistake until it was too late...?

With so many troubles hanging over his head, Badger began to head back home. Because home was another big problem he needed to face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:** The character of Badger's dad comes entirely from Spectrumv's version of him. For more stuff featuring him, check out her Black Raven fan comic. Though if you like the Black Ravens in general and haven't read the comic already, then you totally should anyway.

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><p>The afternoon was settling into a dusky glow by the time Badger reached his house. It wouldn't be long before it started to get dark and Badger hoped that he could have everything sorted out by then. Not that he had that clear of an idea what everything even was or how to go about sorting it out.<p>

When he got to the front door, he peered around the street. For some reason he always felt that he needed to check about when he got home, despite that no one would have any reason to follow him. But the old cobbled lane was free from any onlookers, so he quietly pushed open the door and made his way inside.

As soon as it clicked shut behind him, Badger felt as if he had stepped into another world. His house was an unfriendly place to him and not somewhere he ever wanted to be if he could avoid it. Which was why he spent as much time down at the market as he did. The market was full of friends and bright skies, not the stifling gloom that hung about the tiny rooms here.

Without really meaning to, Badger held his breath and tip-toed through the hall, knowing from experience where to avoid the creaky floorboards. As he past by the living room door he peered inside, checking to see if his dad was home.

Sure enough, the old man was splayed out across the sofa, snoring loudly into the hazy air. On the windowsill a radio was humming, the words too difficult for Badger to make out through the fuzzy crackles. But he didn't mind – the sound would act as a cushion if he made any noise upstairs that might risk waking his dad.

So he made his way up to his room, letting out a sigh as he got through the door. It was chillier in here than the rest of the house, since Badger had left the window open this morning, but Badger wasn't one to be too bothered by the cold. Least of all when he had so many other things on his mind.

Now let's see, what had he even come here for...?

Faced with the place he'd been trying to get to since finishing his talk with Roddy earlier, Badger's mind suddenly drew a blank about what he needed. A change of clothes would be a good idea, but Badger wasn't sure how long Crow's little trip was going to last for. All the same, he grabbed his rucksack and started to stuff in a few jumpers and jeans from his drawers, along with other clothes he thought he might need. Best to just pack for a few days, otherwise the bag would be too heavy. If they stayed longer than that, Badger could always find somewhere to wash his stuff or else just get a bit scruffy. He doubted that Crow and the others would be too bothered if he did. They could all be a bit scruffy at times.

Might be a good idea to grab food as well. The others would probably be bringing some of their own, but Badger had very specific tastes. Most foods didn't agree with him and he was happiest with plain fruit and vegetables. Which meant paying a visit to the cupboards downstairs...

He peered around the room, just in case anything else caught his eye. But there wasn't very much here that he could take. Badger had never cared much for material possessions. He'd come to Misthallery with little of his own and what he'd found there had been friends, not objects. As long as he could have his friends, nothing he could own mattered to him.

Maybe Crow felt the same way and that was why he was going to such lengths to get Wren and Socket back.

One thing he did take was his photo of his mam from his bedside table. Because he couldn't stand the thought of what dad might do with it if Badger didn't come back. Maybe he'd just throw it away. Mam didn't deserve to be thrown away...

Badger clutched the photo to his chest for a moment, before packing it into the bag. Best go get that food now, so he could head off without incident.

Getting back down the stairs was harder with a heavy bag, so Badger left it by the front door when he'd reached the bottom. It wouldn't do to make a lot of noise in the kitchen - the little room was so cluttered that he was bound to knock something over if he took the bag through with him.

Thankfully, he wasn't planning to take much. Fruit didn't keep fresh for very long and he wouldn't want to leave his dad without anything, given that Badger knew he would put off shopping until it was unavoidable. Sometimes Badger worried that he'd make himself sick.

As he hunted through the cupboards, that thought lingered in his mind. These days it was mostly down to Badger to make sure his dad got a decent meal. Or a wash. Or any other basic requirements. Without Badger around, maybe his dad wouldn't cope...

If Roddy needed to stay in Misthallery to look after his mam, then should Badger have said he needed to stay to look after his dad?

...But then who would stop Crow from getting himself hurt?

No, it was too late for second-thoughts. He'd already decided he was going and that was final. It wasn't as if his dad was incapable of caring for himself and without Badger there to do it for him he might pick himself back up. It was a naïvely optimistic idea, but it was all the comfort Badger could offer himself on the matter.

Arms stuffed full of the food he assumed would keep the longest, Badger made his way back into the hall. He was stuffing it into the top of his rucksack when a particularly loud snort came from the living room. Badger froze, silently begging that his dad would go back to sleep.

"Si...? Is that you?"

No such luck. It seemed that he'd woken himself up with his own snoring.

Badger didn't have to reply. He could wait until his dad had gone back to sleep, then slip out of the door and not be back until who knew when. Maybe he'd never come back. The whole trip had developed such a sense of foreboding at this point that Badger wouldn't be surprised. And heck, his dad probably wouldn't miss him either. Sometimes Badger didn't tell him when he was going to sleepovers and his dad wouldn't even notice until he got back.

It would be sensible not to reply.

"Y-yeah, dad?"

The words came out of his traitorous mouth before he even had the chance to stop them.

"Stop makin' all that racket, I can 'ardly sleep in 'ere."

That could have been it. He could have just replied saying that he'd keep quiet and that would be that. But somehow that didn't feel right to Badger.

"Dad, I'm... g-goin' out fer a-a while."

Another snore-like grunt, followed by, "All right then?"

His dad was probably just as surprised that Badger was telling him this as Badger was that he was saying it at all. Usually Badger just disappeared without a word and came back the next day. Part of him wanted his dad to think that was all he was doing, so he wouldn't try to stop him. But quietly he wondered if the man would even notice anything was amiss.

"S-see ya when I get back," Badger concluded, picking up the rucksack before his nerves broke.

"Si?"

"Y-eah?"

There was an awkward pause. Neither of them knew what to say to the other and they both suspected something was up. Eventually, Badger's dad seemed to resign to the fact that he just didn't know what to say about this.

"Shut the door on your way out. Wouldn't want t' let in a draft."

"Will do," promised Badger, "Um, bye dad..."

"Bye, Simon."

His dad didn't use his full name very often these days. He must know that something was out of place and this wouldn't be the usual sleepover at a friend's house. But he was also permitting Badger to go and Badger shouldn't waste an opportunity like that.

He hurried out of the door, quietly closing it behind him, like his dad had asked. Then without really knowing what he was doing, his legs seemed to move on their own away from the house and down the street.

Crow hadn't arranged a time or place for them to meet, but Badger knew that they'd have to go to the train station in the next town if they wanted to head up to Northumberland. Misthallery didn't have a train station of its own, since the hilly layout of the town made it unsuitable for most transport, but there was another town not too far away that had one. It was a common walk for kids who wanted to travel away for a while and one that Badger himself had taken a few times without even thinking about it.

Of course, he could have gone to stay with one of the others for the night, but somehow that didn't feel right. Because then he'd have to explain why he'd left his own house in such a hurry and Badger wasn't even sure that he could explain that to himself.

It'd be a good idea to at least let someone know he was gone though, lest they hang around waiting for him tomorrow. Or worse, go to Badger's house looking for him. So Badger made a detour through the market itself, since he knew Louis would be lurking there.

Sure enough, the lanky lad was loitering around the closed stalls, with his usual air of trying to avoid work. From the looks of it, Marilyn had long since finished her talk with Louis & Gus and headed home, so helping her pack up her parent's stall was one less job for Louis to avoid doing. And, as much as he liked Marilyn, Badger was glad of the prospect of less people to have to explain himself to.

"All right, Badger? What are you doing about at this time?" Louis called, as Badger drew closer.

"Just thought... I'd, well, 'ead out t' the station early," Badger replied. And before Louis could ask any questions he continued, "Could ya tell Crowlo? So 'e's not lookin' fer me tomorreh. None of ya 'ave t' rush down, like, but I'll be waitin' there wheneveh yer readeh."

If Louis thought this was at all strange he didn't let on, simply giving Badger a small nod; "I'll let him know. Chances are he'll wanna be off sharp and all, so we'll probably be joining you soon enough."

"I'll keep yer seats warm then. See ya, Louis," concluded Badger, as he started to make his way down the road again.

"Yeah, see you later," Louis called, sounding a little concerned. Badger couldn't blame him.

Word didn't stay with Louis for long, as he was a renowned gossip and would be bound to tell the others before long. It wouldn't surprise Badger if Crow, Gus and Louis ended up joining him on his walk soon enough. Part of him hoped that would be the case.

But by the time he'd reached the station without any sight of them, he'd decided that a quiet walk on his own had been for the best. Soon enough he'd have lots of time to talk with his friends, but not much time to reflect on things by himself. And there certainly was a lot to think about right now. Not that Badger had come up with any answers to any of these problems, but he was a champion at worrying about stuff.

The station itself was eerily silent at this time, as many of the evening trains had already been and gone. A quick look at the board determined there'd only be a few more before morning, probably filled with hapless commuters. So Badger resigned to take a seat near the entrance, where it would be easy to keep an eye out for the others. He plonked his rucksack down next to him, curling his spindly legs up into his chest and staring out onto the road.

Tomorrow was going to be the start of something, though Badger wasn't sure what it was yet. He knew that it'd be a long journey on the train, as Northumberland was even further up the country than Badger himself had come from. He wasn't sure why Wren and Socket's mam had decided to move there, but maybe they'd find out when they visited. Hopefully they wouldn't be too bothered by a surprise visit, but nothing could stop Crow once he's set his mind to something...

Speaking of Crow, Badger had been trying hard to keep the leader out of his mind as he'd been getting ready this afternoon, but now that he had so much time it was hard not to think of him. As is Crow's way, he'd come back home like a whirlwind and shaken everything up. Though he'd revealed very little about his own journey beyond that he believed it had made him stronger as a person. Badger still had no idea where he'd gone, what he'd done or who he'd met. And he probably wouldn't find any of those things out until Crow saw fit to tell him. Maybe that was for the best, but the curiosity still burned a hole into Badger's chest.

It would be better to focus on their new adventure, which Badger was going to be part of. Not that he's sure how much of an "adventure" this was going to be. But it involved going to new places and having no idea how any of it was going to turn out, so it was already more of an adventure than standing around the market looking out for tourists was.

His mind was an uncomfortable mix of fretting and failed attempts to reassure himself, not helped by the strange glances he got from travellers once the late night trains did start coming in. Thankfully, none of the station's workers asked him to leave, so Badger stayed on his seat, huddled up and looking out for the familiar faces of his friends.

It would have been good to keep watch all night and, given how bad Badger's sleeping habits were, on most nights he'd have been able to manage this. But it seemed that tonight, all of the stress and worry had worn him out. So, without meaning to, Badger drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep...


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:** Decided to post this chapter pretty soon after the previous one, since it's mostly bridging events into the next chapter.

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><p>"...Badge'? Oi, wake up, Badge'!"<p>

With a nervous jolt, Badger's eyes shot open. They were faced with Crow staring down at him. The leader's usual heavy-lidded eyes gave him an expression of curious indifference.

A wave of embarrassment surged through Badger. He'd clearly nodded off for far too long. The morning sun was already shining through the station and people were shoving by on their way to work. He had no idea how much time had past since he'd fallen asleep, but Crow and Gus had been there for a while, from the looks of it. There were no signs of Louis, however.

"M-must've nodded off...!" Badger whimpered, sitting up straight.

"It's all right, we 'aven't been 'ere that long ourselves," assured Crow, "Louis's just gone to pick up the tickets now."

"Can we... um, afford tickets?" asked Badger.

How could he have not thought about tickets? Did he expect that they'd be able to just waltz on a train and be whisked away to Northumberland out of the goodness of some train driver's heart?

He looked down at his rucksack, amazed that it hadn't been taken by some opportunist thief during the night. Though one good look at Badger would be enough to suggest that there's nothing in the bag worth taking.

"Yeah, we got the money outta our rainy day pot. Been savin' it for an emergency. An' what's more o' an emergency than losin' two Black Ravens?" Crow answered.

"Lucky we had enough to cover the four of us," Gus chimed in. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to their conversation otherwise. This was far more of an adventure for someone as sheltered as Gus than for any of the rest of them, even the previously untravelled Crow, so the prospect left him eagerly staring around the station. Badger wished that he could share some of that enthusiasm.

Crow nodded; "If it 'ad just been me I'd 've tried to get on without payin', but there's no way we could sneak all o' us on a train without bein' noticed."

Once again, Badger's mind drifted off to Crow's unspoken trip away. Maybe he'd travelled all over Britain, simply by hitch-hiking and hiding from ticket checkers. It wouldn't surprise Badger, given how crafty Crow could be.

Not that there was much time to get lost in that thought, as Louis was walking back over with tickets in hand. He smiled warmly at the sight of Badger.

"I see that sleeping beauty is awake. Good thing as well, since we've not got long before the train gets here," he hummed.

"Everyone got everythin'?" checked Crow, glancing around the group like a mother hen, "We might not be comin' back for a while once we get on the train, so anythin' ya need ya wanna be sure ya don't leave without."

There was a chorus of affirmative murmurs from the others. In that moment, Badger couldn't help but worry if he really had got everything he needed. Clothes, food, a photo of his mam – was there anything else?

This also doubled as the last chance he had to back out of the whole ordeal. His mind flashed back to his unsuspecting dad – sat at home, assuming Badger was just away at yet another sleepover. It might be days before he even realised there was more to Badger heading off than that. And in that time, who knows what might happen to him...

...But then Badger looked at Crow, the cheeky lad with the confident, driven face, and knew that he had to go with him. There was no stopping Crow once he set his mind to something and both of the people who'd usually try to protect him from himself weren't here. It was down to Badger to do that, should it come to it. He'd promised Roddy.

And on top off everything else, Badger does want to believe that Crow can bring Wren and Socket back. He's never let them down before. Except for when he left...

It seemed that the others had already started making their way to the platform while he'd been lost in his thoughts, so Badger darted after them. He stopped by Gus, as the four of them eagerly looked down the tracks.

"Sounds like it's getting close," Gus chimed.

The train rolled into the station and just like that the whole platform was a filled with a wave of furious rush. There were tired-looking passengers trying to get off the train, impatient people pushing their way on and a few irate station guards attempting to guide them all about. In the commotion, Crow slipped through the nearest door and the others followed them. Neither Badger nor Gus were very good at shoving past the commuters, but they managed as best they could in light of not having a choice.

Everything that happened over the few minutes until the train pulled away felt like a dull ringing in Badger's ears. He was nervous and uncomfortable, but once they were on the move the finality of not being able to go back seemed to comfort him. They even managed to find some seats around a table for all four of them, which was more than Badger had been expecting them to get.

Gus had been a bit shaken getting onto the train and wasn't as good at hiding his nerves as Badger was. But now they were all sat down he seemed to have recovered, looking out the window at the yellow fields flying past.

"Off we go up North then," said Louis, clearly trying to get a conversation going.

"It'll be nice to see where you an' Badge' come from. I've nevah been this far up the country," commented Crow. If nothing else, it confirmed to Badger that Crow's little adventure hadn't been as far afield as he'd been assuming it had.

"We're going much further than Liverpool or Manchester," Louis corrected, "Where we're going is just outside of Scotland, pretty much."

"We do have the exact address, don't we?" asked Crow, "Northumberland is probably a big place."

"They live in a small village called Chillingham. There's not a train station near there, so we'll have to do a lot of walking when we get off the train," Gus informed. He was unfolding a piece of paper with all the details scribbled onto it. Seemed he'd been better prepared than any of them were expecting.

Crow scoffed, "A bit o' walkin' never did us any 'arm, eh?"

By the time they get there, they'd probably be eager to stretch their legs, Badger assumed. At the moment they were all cheerfully optimistic, but a few hours on a train with nothing much to do was bound to get to them. Especially when Crow started getting fussy about rationing the food. He reasoned that they didn't know how long they'd be there for, so there was no point in guzzling it all down at once. Much to Louis and Gus's dismay. Badger wasn't too bothered though – he was still too unsettled to find much benefit in eating.

They got a few odd looks from people heading past. But then again, Badger assumed a group of scruffy kids travelling alone on a train might seem unusual. When their tickets were check, he got the impression that the man was a little disappointed they had paid their fare like everyone else, since he probably expected them to have sneaked on board without proper tickets. As if they'd be sat here as bold as brass if they had done that.

Badger looked across at Crow. He'd probably have sat there as bold as brass without a ticket, actually. Maybe he even had done on his trip away. Badger wanted so badly to ask about it, but the words choked up in his mouth. So instead, what came out was a little gagging noise.

"Ya all right, Badge'? 'Ere, 'ave some water."

Crow was leaning over the table with a bottle in his hand and a look of concern on his face. It was hard not to flare up with embarrassment when faced with that, so Badger nodded quickly, grabbing at the bottle and gulping it down. Mostly to avoid having to look at Crow.

"Good thing water isn't hard to come by," Louis sighed. It sounded as if he was still bitter about being told he couldn't eat the fruit scones Gus had packed.

"But that northern watah is all 'ard watah, ain't it?" Crow teased, "My soft, southern mouth probably can't 'andle it."

"It tastes better than the muck you drink, I'll tell you that now," retorted Louis.

"Does water really taste different in different places?" Gus asked, shocked by this small revelation.

What followed was a whole discussion about water, that quickly descended into Louis and Crow making light-hearted North & South jokes at each other. If nothing else, it was enough for everyone to forget Badger's little wobble, which suited Badger just fine. He and Gus just sat listening for the most part, each equally able to join in, but not feeling right to do so while being with these two more confident personalities.

This set the trend for the rest of the journey, so it was fortunate that both Crow and Louis had a lot of stories to tell and liked the attention. By the time the train stopped in the little station they were getting off at, it didn't feel like they'd spent as much time on the train as Badger was expecting. And save for some stiff legs, they weren't all that weary.

"So it really is miles from here to Chillingham?" Louis glumly checked, once they were all off and on the move.

"I doubt we'll be there before morning, let's just say that," Gus replied, checking his notes.

A quick glance at the notes had Badger agreeing with him. They didn't have the exact distance listed, but it certainly seemed they had a lot of ground to cover, judging from all the names of the different villages. A silent agreement was made amongst them to not stop somewhere over night – so they could save on time and money. If they did end up needing a rest, they could always sneakily camp out in one of the little woods that seemed to litter the countryside here without too much risk of being caught.

Their journey quickly seemed to go from one extreme to the other though, as sitting down on the train soon became the more desirable of the two options, when compared to a lengthy hike across unknown roads. It wasn't so bad for Badger, whose lanky legs served him well, but Louis was just as lanky and still managed to lag behind.

"Come on, Lozz, ya just goin' soft!" Crow called back, when the rest of them had reached the top of a hill, "All that standin' around the market all day 'as sapped the energy right outta ya."

"When did... you get so hardy?" puffed Louis, "You're as short and round as they come, Crow!"

"Maybe we should take a break," Gus suggested, maturely ignoring Louis's 'short and round' comment.

"But we've 'ardly got a few more miles to go," Crow whined.

"And it'll be dark when we get there," reasoned Gus, "I Don't think their mum would be too happy if we turned up on the doorstep at this hour."

"True, we want to make a good impression," agreed Crow.

It wasn't clear from that if they were actually deciding to stop or not, but either way Louis slumped down when he reached the top of the hill and gave off the vibe that he wouldn't be moving again without a very good reason. There was a bit of a stand-off after that, as Crow insisted the roadside wasn't a good place to rest and the others had to admit that was right about that. So in the end they made a rough camp in a small grassy area nearby, just out of sight of the road.

Only a couple of them had thought to pack any blankets, so they ended up huddled quite close together to keep warm. It wasn't as if they didn't all do that during sleepovers anyway, but it still made Badger feel a little uncomfortable. He was used to sleeping alone in his tiny bedroom, so having three other people curled up with him seemed a little invasive. Though it seemed that none of the others shared his concerns, as before long three Black Ravens were sound asleep on the bumpy ground.

Badger looked up into the sky. They were lucky that the air was clear tonight and it wasn't as cool as it should have been for this time of year. The stars above were even more visible out here than they were in Misthallery and if Badger was better educated, then he might have been able to name some of the constellations. As it was, he just drew lines between them in his mind until his eyelids became too heavy for him to keep them open.

This time, Badger managed not to sleep in until late, as it was still dark when he woke up. A bluey-grey sort of dark that was beginning to be chased away by the first morning light.

He sat up, carefully untangling himself from Louis and Crow, so not to disturb them, before getting up to stretch his legs.

Gus was already awake and staring back across at the silent road. He gave a small smile as Badger walked over.

"Morning, Badger. Ready to get on the road again?" he asked.

"More readeh than those two lumps are," assured Badger, gesturing back towards their make-shift bed, "You bin up long?"

"Only about an hour. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd get up to see the sunrise. It's sort of different, looking at it so far from home," Gus replied, wistfully.

"Reckon the sun'll be risin' in Mist'allereh an' all," mused Badger.

He briefly wondered if any of their friends who hadn't come were awake yet. Marilyn would already be setting up her stall and Scraps would no doubt be checking through last night's rubbish. Maybe Roddy would have stayed up all night worrying about Crow, you could never tell with him.

Badger's dad wouldn't be awake now, though. Not before noon...

"Better go wake the other two up then, huh?" enquired Gus. He must have been wanting to for a while, but felt it best to wait for someone else to get up, so that he didn't look impatient.

"Nothin' short of a bacon buttie would wake them up," Badger grumbled.

"I don't have any bacon, but there should be enough broth in my flasks to go around," said Gus, "Crow said not to waste our food though..."

"Once we've got some in a dish 'e'll change 'is tune, mark my words," Badger dismissed, as he went to help Gus get the flask and bowls out of his bag.

It seemed that Gus had been well-prepared for the trip, perhaps to the point of over-packing. Badger had no idea how he'd managed to lug all this stuff around since they'd left the train station. He seemed understandably happy that breakfast would lighten the load a little.

And sure enough, before they'd taken their second sip of broth, Crow was scrambling over, still wrapped in his blanket.

"Nothin' like somethin' warm to start the day," he murmured, gratefully taking a bowl that Badger past across to him.

They were all almost finished by the time that Louis joined them, but none of them minded waiting for him. The broth helped them all feel refreshed and put them in better spirits than they had been last night. Even though the weather was much cloudier now than it had been when Badger fell asleep, he still felt optimistic about the morning sunrise.

Maybe this would all turn out okay after all...

He tried to hold onto that thought as they packed away and got onto the road again. It wouldn't be far now until they reached the village where Wren and Socket supposedly lived, only a few more miles at most. And although he wasn't sure exactly what would happen when they got there, Badger had every confidence that Crow had some sort of plan.

Crow could fix everything, after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes:** And we finally get to Wren and Socket! I apologise in advance for how emotional this chapter is. It definitely made me feel sad to write it.

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><p>If they hadn't been looking for it, then the group of travellers might well have past by Chillingham without paying it much notice. It turned out that the village was tiny, even more so than most of the others they'd past on their way to find it.<p>

"At least it means we have less places to check," Gus reasoned, as they began the search for Wren and Socket's new house.

They were all glad of that after the long journey here. On another day they would probably have split off into groups, so they could cover ground quicker, but right now they were all weary enough to want to stick together. So they quietly trudged through the village, gaining little attention from the few people who were about the streets. Badger reasoned that they must get a lot of travellers passing through, given how far apart all the places here seemed to be.

After a short while, they stopped to take a look around a small bridge over a ford. It seemed that ahead of that there were only a few more houses before the village broke off into more countryside. An eager sign nearby advertised visits to see some kind of rare cows that seemed to be the highlight of Chillingham. Certainly most of the stonework they'd past by was proudly decorated with carvings of cows. Badger couldn't see what the big deal was himself, but then maybe he just wasn't looking at it right.

"I don't think there's much more to check that way," Louis commented, "Maybe we made a wrong turn back there."

"There ain't enough o' this place to make wrong turns. An' the sign back there said there wasn't anythin' but the castle in other direction," replied Crow.

"There's a few more houses we could try. This does seem to be the right street, going by what the notes say..." Gus suggested.

"Looks like we won't need t' do that," Badger cut in.

He pointed ahead and three sets of eyes followed to see what he was talking about. They were all shocked to see two familiar people walking towards them, too engaged in conversation with each other to notice them just yet.

Wren and Socket truly were a sight for sore eyes, but something about them seemed different from before. Not bad different, Badger told himself, just... different. Probably because the clothes they had on couldn't be further away from the sort Badger had been used to seeing them wear back at the market. Ill-fitting, baggy t-shirts and puffy jackets had been traded in for two smart sets of matching school uniforms. To anyone else, they would have looked like two respectable young students who wouldn't have anything to do with the likes of the Black Ravens.

He only had a brief moment to take this in, however, as Crow quickly called over to them.

"Oi, you two! Look who came to visit ya!" he shouted. He sounded pleased enough to see them that he put across what all of the group felt.

Needless to say, they both looked surprised to meet some of their old friends in a place like this. But it didn't take long for them to rush over. Socket excitedly splashed through the ford, instead of sensibly taking the bridge, like Wren did.

"What are youse lot doin' 'ere?" cried Socket. He practically bounced up and down as he drew level with them.

"Came to see you two, didn't we?" assured Louis.

"You came all the way up here just for a visit?" Wren checked. She sounded doubtful. Badger couldn't blame her for that.

"There is a bit more to it," Crow confessed.

"Oh?" hummed Socket, as he gave the leader a curious look.

"Well, I didn't get to say goodbye to ya before ya left. But I also didn't get to 'ear what ya both thought o' it," Crow answered, "It don't seem right that ya 'ad to move away when ya were so 'appy back at Mist'allery."

"Mum needed to come here though. She has family in the village and things weren't working out well for her down South. When a job came up here, it made sense for her to come back," Wren explained.

"That's all fine for ya mum, but what about the two o' ya? Ya can't wanna leave the 'ome an' friends ya 'ad since ya were kids," Crow pressed.

"Where mum goes we go," replied Socket, "Ya can't 'spect kids like us to live without 'er."

"You're 'ardly kids any more," Crow countered. This was clearly more aimed at Wren, given that Socket, as the youngest Black Raven, was only just old enough to be considered a teenager.

"But we're still not old enough to live on our own," argued Wren, "What did you expect us to do? Buy a house in Misthallery? You know we don't have any money to do that."

"Ya coulda stayed with any o' us. We look out for each othah," reminded Crow.

Privately, Badger felt that he could speak for himself in that regard. As much as he'd want to help Wren and Socket, there'd be no way that he could let them stay in a house with his dad. His dad who Badger should have stayed to-

...No, not now. Worry about that later.

"It's a nice idea, Crow, but we can't do that in the real world," Wren said, sounding more and more exasperated with each sentence, "Please don't tell me you came all the way up here just to ask us to come back."

There was an awful silence in which that sentence settled in. Because yes, that was exactly why they'd come here. But hearing it said like that seemed to bring home what a bad idea it had been. What were they thinking? Even if the two of them had wanted to come back, how would they have convinced their mother that this was a good idea?

After they'd gone an uncomfortable length of time without a word from Crow, Wren continued; "Look, I know that you have a lot on your mind. Why don't you go wait in our house until we get back from school and we can all talk about this properly? It's just down the road and the door isn't locked. Mum might come back from the post office at lunch time, but you can just say that you all came to see us and she probably won't mind."

"Ya don't wanna come back, do ya?"

It was a harsh shot and hearing it come out of Crow's mouth shocked them all.

"That's not what I-"

"Why would ya wanna be in Mist'allery, runnin' around with a buncha poor losahs, when instead ya could be in a posh, knobby school, learnin' 'ow to be doctahs or lawyahs or somethin'?"

"Don't talk to Wrenny like that!" yelled Socket.

"It's all right, Socket. I can handle this," assured Wren, before glaring at Crow, "You're hardly being fair. You know that we both love the Black Ravens and doing what we do. But our family is here now. And yes, I am glad that we can finally go to a proper school. Maybe you don't think it's important, but we could actually make something of ourselves if we stick in here. So then we don't have to be dragged from one temporary job to another, like mum is. We need this chance. Our teacher says that we're smart-"

"I say that you're smart!" Crow cut in.

"That's not what I meant! You've always been proud of us, but we can't get through life on your praise alone," snapped Wren. She was so angry. Proper angry, Badger felt, not the sibling sort of angry she often got with Socket; "Maybe you sniff at paper qualifications, but the rest of the world doesn't. There was no point in school back at Misthallery, because the teachers labelled us as... as not worth their time. We were just two more poor kids in a class of many. But here they actually care about what we can do! Socket's been taken a side and put into a metalwork class, because they saw how good he was at it. Who except for you lot even cared about Socket's skills back home?"

"The people whose 'ouses 'e fixed," retorted Crow.

"And what good was he to them after that? They're not awful people, Crow, but they're also not going to help us find work for ourselves," insisted Wren.

"When did it become about findin' a job? Ya 'ad work back at the black market!" Crow shot.

There was another uncomfortable pause, then Wren mumbled; "Did you really think that would last forever...?"

This was clearly too much for Crow. Without a second-glance he turned on his heels and marched away from them all, back up the road they'd come from. Unusually, none of the group felt inclined to go after him.

"You hit a sore spot there," commented Louis, as they all watched him go.

"Someone had to tell him," Wren insisted, "I'm just sorry that he dragged you all up here before he heard it."

"Nah, it's our fault for not saying anything sooner. This whole thing could have been avoided. It's just that... no one wanted to do it," admitted Louis.

"What're ya talkin' about?" pressed Socket, "What did ya need to tell 'im about?"

Gus looked equally as confused about this. And, although Badger couldn't see his own face, he reckoned that he did as well. It seemed like Wren and Louis were in on something that the rest of them had been left out of.

"That we can't always be Black Ravens. As nice as the idea would be," answered Wren.

"It's something that a few of us have known for a while now," Louis added, when he saw how much it seemed to take the others a back, "And we know it's hard to accept, but change happens. Heck, life happens and we just can't be sure that all of us are gonna be there forever. It's been good to us while we were kids and maybe we'll get a bit longer out of it, but even Crowlo's started to get restless, what with his disappearing."

"But we can't..." Socket sniffed.

It seemed that he didn't know what to say after that. Despite that he'd moved away from Misthallery, it didn't seem to have dawned on him that the Black Ravens could ever split up. As if everyone would keep doing the same thing while he was away and it'd all be waiting for him, should he ever want to return to it.

Maybe Crow had felt the same way when he left them.

"We already have been," Wren sighed. She put a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder.

"You're wrong," Gus piped up, "We'll never stop being the Black Ravens. Maybe in time we'll stop doing the black market, but that isn't all that we are. We're friends and the Black Ravens means that. I-if we stop being the Black Ravens, we s-stop being friends. And I d-don't think we c-can do that..."

His shaky nerves were apparent as he spoke, even if what he was saying seemed like such a confident statement. Maybe none of the others had been thinking about it like that before, but his words clearly resonated with them all.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Louis mumbled, "I deffo feel a proper fool for thinking we were falling apart..."

"We should go aftah Crow," Socket squeaked.

"No, the three of us will go after Crow," corrected Louis, "What Wren said about you and her is right – you need these chances. Just go to that school and be the best you can be. I promise we'll sort things out with him and it'll be all right."

"B-b-but 'ow am I s'pose to focus o-on school work an' junk w-when Crow's all angry an' cross with Wrenny...?" Socket demanded, clearly on the verge of tears.

"Because we all want you to do well," Gus said, "Crow being cross won't last forever. He cares too much about us. And when he's thinking right, he'll be so proud of you both, you'll see."

"If ya sure...?" Socket mumbled, doubtfully.

"We're sure," concluded Louis, "Now we'd better be off – that Crow's got some set of legs on him when he wants to."

"Take care," Wren whispered, seeming a bit emotional herself, even if she was better at hiding it than her brother was, "And good luck with him."

The five of them murmured various awkward farewells to each other, before Louis, Gus and Badger headed off after Crow.

It was hard for Badger to look at Wren before they left, because he felt so sorry for her. At least back when they had been kids, Wren had such a huge crush on Crow (a fact that Socket broadcast to them all, much to Wren's dismay) and, even if it had died down now, having Crow yell at her like that must have been hard. Badger knew exactly how he'd feel in that situation and the nausea it brought upon him seemed to sting in his throat. He wanted to tell Wren that he knew how she felt and that, somehow, it'd be okay. But he couldn't do that without it being weird. So he'd just given the two of them a silent nod and followed after the others.

They reasoned that Crow would probably be going back the way they came and, if they followed that road, they'd soon catch up with him. None of them felt in too much of a rush to close the gap between them, however. Even though with Badger's skills at running he could easily have done so in little time.

"What are we gonna say when we do find him?" Louis checked, as the three of them trudged along.

"I think he just needs time. So even if we do catch up with him and he doesn't say a word, that's fine. He just needs to know that we're there for when he's ready," answered Gus.

"You're probably right. Just like you were before. When did you get so wise, Gus?" Louis mused.

"I, um, I just say what I think I should..." evaded Gus, clearly embarrassed.

Although he hadn't voiced it, Badger felt the same way that Louis did about this. When they were kids, hardly a word came out of Gus's mouth that wasn't about Aunt Taffy's delicious sweets. But in the recent years, Gus had gotten both quieter and seemingly more worldly when he did talk. Maybe, even if he had mostly been confined to Misthallery, Gus had learned a lot more than they gave him credit for. It definitely made Badger feel slightly guilty that he hadn't noticed it much before now.

They walked a few miles more before catching sight of Crow, a distant figure on the hilly roads ahead. He seemed to be marching with intent even now and they followed loyally behind him. Each of them was probably thinking about what they'd say when Crow did want to talk to them. Or at least, Badger knew that he was.

Perhaps they could just tell him what Gus had said, about how they'll always be Black Ravens, even if they're apart. That might cushion the blow of Wren and Socket not coming back with them. And hopefully, when he's had time to think about it, Crow will realise that he should be proud of the two siblings for doing so well in their school. Because, even if they don't come back to Misthallery, that doesn't mean the rest of the Black Ravens can't visit them, right?

Or maybe Crow's too shaken at the thought of his friends drifting from him. Even if they might still think of each other as friends, it didn't change the fact that they won't be able to keep up the black market much longer. With Wren and Socket gone, that was a massive dent in the amount of repair work and auction ideas they'd have. And, although it hadn't seemed like a big deal to Badger before now, he had to admit that Marilyn had been spending more time on her parent's stall and less time with them lately. While Crow had been away, many of them had been finding other places for themselves to fill the void he'd left. Only Scraps diligently kept seeking out treasures to sell, while Badger kept hopelessly waiting for Crow.

They couldn't run a black market with just three of them...

Although maybe Crow could perform some miracles. Even if Badger was forced to admit that his faith had been dampened by how unprepared Crow had been for when they met up with Wren and Socket. He focused on the speck in the distance and knew that he had to have faith in this person.

Because, if he couldn't rely on Crow, then who could Badger rely on...?


End file.
